Winterize Potted Geraniums

Dec 17, 2002

Elois Ioannidis

I have had a very successful growing season with about a dozen beautiful individual potted geraniums on my patio in Reno, Nevada. I want to know how to keep them alive through the winter for next season. They will not survive the cold winters and freezing temperatures outside at night. I don't know what to do with them, and I don't want to let them just die off. Please help! Thank you.

Jo Ann Cady

Dear Jo Ann,
Your geraniums should be pruned back heavily and brought indoors before frost. Kept them in a well-lit, cool, dry place, such as an unheated sun porch or entryway, where the temperature will remain above freezing, but won't rise much above 60 either. Water only occasionally, when the soil becomes bone-dry. (Normal watering will kill the plants, which require a period of dormancy each winter with reduced moisture.) Some of the leaves will yellow, and the plant will cease blooming. This is normal. When the weather warms, resume normal watering, fertilize, repot if necessary and pinch back the new growth to encourage bushy plants with loads of bloom.

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